Direct conversion of cottonseeds into biodiesel

Abstract

Biodiesel production is recommended to achieve sustainable energy practices because of its high compatibility with petrol-derived diesel. Conventionally, acid- or alkaline-catalyzed transesterification of refined oil is used for biodiesel production, however, oil extraction and refinement from oil-bearing biomass leads to losses. Therefore, we propose a novel approach that directly converts cottonseeds into biodiesel. Biodiesel yield from non-catalytic transesterification of cottonseed oil at 360 °C within 1 min was high at 96.3 wt%, surpassing the yield (80.6 wt%) from alkali-catalyzed transesterification at 60 °C for 60 min. Biodiesel yield from non-catalytic transesterification of cottonseed at 360 °C within 1 min was 22.7 wt%. For cottonseed oil content (20.9 wt%), overall biodiesel yield from cottonseed was 108.7 wt%, implying that oil extraction using conventional methods was incomplete. Therefore, directly converting cottonseed into biodiesel through non-catalytic transesterification is a viable and efficient alternative for biodiesel production.